


i'd give it all for a heart

by vouivre



Category: Cosmere - Brandon Sanderson, Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Zane and Elend get the family they deserve
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-14 02:32:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14760935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vouivre/pseuds/vouivre
Summary: For half his life Elend had someone watching over him. But when he finally gets to meet the one who has saved him all these times they're not at all what he has expected.





	i'd give it all for a heart

He doesn’t die when he’s fourteen. He should, he really should, but somehow he doesn’t.

The assassins come for him in the middle of the night, four of them, all trained Allomancers. A one-eyed Coinshot, a spindly Lurcher and two mean-looking Thugs. It’s actually a bit of an overkill just to get rid of a scrawny, bookish boy like him who couldn’t harm a fly if he wanted to. But then he _is_ the heir of one of the empire’s most powerful noble houses and whoever has sent these assassins after him must really, really want him dead.  
Which could be absolutely anyone in Urteau. Or the Northern Dominance. Or the empire. House Venture might be extemely powerful but even they have their fair share of enemies.

Elend is not a fighter. No one knows this better than himself. He’s a boy of many talents, he’s more than capable of holding his own in a lengthy philosophical debate - much to his father’s disapproval - and he does occassionally carry stacks and stacks of books from the library to his room without ever being spotted. But against a bunch of trained assassins with abilities he can only dream of - also much to his father’s disapproval - he’s virtually useless.  
That’s what the guards are for. Or rather that’s what the guards would be for if the attackers wouldn’t have already dealt with anyone in the general vicinity. Eight of house Venture’s best hazekillers lie dead - or unconscious, Elend can’t really tell - before their feet. He swallows, hard. He would scream but something tells him that he’s on his own. The assassins seem way too sure of themselves.

The Coinshot smiles and Elend can see his own death in the woman’s single eye. One coin is all she needs. One coin and Elend’s life will end, cut off like a rope dangling over the abyss. One coin … one coin breaks through the window, shatters the glass on its path and buries itself in the stunned Coinshot’s eye. The woman goes down like a felled tree. Elend stares at her corpse in shock, trying to process what in the Lord Ruler’s name just happened. So do the assassins. Time stops for a few seconds until one of the Thugs manages to overcome his surprise and attempts to tackle Elend.  
But before he can even reach him, a hooded figure leaps through the broken window and throws themselves at the assassin like a giant bird of prey. They’re fast, almost inhumanly so, and their sudden attack catches the Thug completely off-guard. He doesn’t stand a chance. Elend catches a glimpse of glass slicing through the air before the Thug topples over, two daggers buried deep in his guts. Even with pewter he should have trouble recovering from a wound like that - that is, if he’s still alive.  
It seems like the odds suddenly have turned in Elend’s favor.

His savior wastes no time, they quickly rip their glass daggers from the motionless man and immediately direct their attention towards the other Thug. This one however is now prepared and when the smaller figure leaps at him, daggers raised, the Thug simply skips around their hasty attack.  
He manages to land a heavy blow against the side of their head that throws them off balance and against the Lurcher who has picked up a wooden shield from one of the hazekillers. While Elend’s savior is trying to regain his balance, the Lurcher, sensing his chance, _pulls_ and a bunch of coins from the dead Coinshot’s belt shoot directly towards him. And towards the stranger who happens to stand between the coins and the shield.

Elend cries out but before the scream has even left his mouth the strangers has already thrown themselves out of the way and the coins bury themselves in the wooden shield without doing any real damage. However it doesn’t stay that way. They’re being pulled again, towards the stranger this time, and Elend belatedly realizes that they have to be a Mistborn considering all their pushing and pulling and taking on these four Allomancers.  
Suddenly the coins seem to freeze in the air. The Lurcher, having come to the same conclusion as Elend, has apparently decided that he can’t let the stranger have those coins. They both pull and pull until suddenly the stranger lets go and the coins shoot towards the Lurcher at an incredible speed. He yelps when their impact shatters the shield. There’s nothing left to stop the coins when they tear deep into his flesh.

With all the other Allomancers dead it doesn’t take long for the stranger to take out the remaining Thug. There’s a low growl, almost animalistic, coming from the darkness beneath their hood and they attack the Thug with all the ferocity of a predator hunting down its prey. The last of the assassins doesn’t stand a chance against aMistborn.  
In the end they simply use the coins that are not embedded in someone’s body. The Thug goes down like a ton of bricks. It’s probably not enough to kill him but it will most likely incapacitate him for at least a few hours, maybe one or two days.

When it’s all over the stranger turns towards Elend. He flinches slightly but holds the other’s gaze. Or at least he thinks he does. It’s hard to tell with their face still obscured by the hood. The fact that they have managed to keep it on during the entire fight is actually impressing all by itself. He catches a glimpse of dark eyes, dark like his own, before the stranger turns away and jumps on the windowsill. Their movements are so gracefully Elend forgets how to breathe for a second.  
Despite being a noble he’s never actually met a Mistborn before. Mistings, yes, others than the ones who have tried to kill him tonight. But never a Mistborn. There’s something eerie about them, as if they are less real than the rest of the world. More a part of the mists that slowly creep through the window only to vanish a second later.

The Mistborn looks back at him and Elend wishes he could see their face. A second later they’re gone as if they were never here. Elend immediately runs towards the window and stares into the darkness and the mists but whoever has saved him is either already gone or far too experienced to be spotted by a fourteen year old boy without any allomantic abilities.

Of course Elend knows that his father has a Mistborn. Not that he has ever shared this piece of information with his son but Straff Venture wouldn’t be who he is without at least one Mistborn at his beck and call.  
It surprises Elend that they’re apparently watching over him. Or watching him. Either way he should probably be thankful that they have been there. He’d be dead without them. He just wishes he could’ve expressed his gratitude to the Mistborn - because he is grateful, incredibly so.

The next day when when he asks his father about the Mistborn all he gets is Straff Venture’s cold disapproval. Elend doesn’t ask again. That night he finds a coin under his pillow, attached to a note. _Keep it_ , it reads, handwriting clumsy and inexperienced. _Remember that I won't let them murder you. Ever._

Elend never finds out who has sent the assassins. But the fact that his father is usually so thorough in removing any individuals who dare to threaten or insult house Venture is a clue in itself.

It takes years for the fleeting realization to finally hit.

It takes years before he meets the Mistborn who has become his savior again.

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea how to write fight scenes. Or write. At all.


End file.
